I agree LG, there was a definitely ghoulish attitude taken in the way these shootings were described.
I remember my nephew, who was a Marine, taling about 'dropping' an enemy - and feeling cold at the thought of it - probably one of the reasons why I am not a Marine myself!
I guess a certain detachment is required to be able to kill another human being in a situation where the other party has no idea he / she is about to die - but that is no reason for a journalist to adopt the same lack of empathy.
It must be a necessity for a serving solider - what excuse does a writer have?